Ukraine Says 'Nine Russian Jets' Downed in a Month

Russian forces operating in Ukraine lost nine jets in May, according to Kyiv, as Ukraine reports record equipment losses and casualties for Moscow's troops.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on Saturday that nine Russian jets were "destroyed" in May 2024.

Kyiv, like Moscow, has targeted high-value assets such as aircraft in the full-scale war in the country that is now into its third year.

Ukrainian military and media reports, as well as Russian sources, suggested in mid-May that Russia lost a number of aircraft over Ukraine.

Ukraine's 110th Mechanized Brigade, operating in the east of the country, were credited by Ukrainian officials with downing several Russian Su-25 jets throughout May in the Donetsk region, where fighting has blazed on despite a new Russian push on the northeastern Kharkiv region.

Ukraine's armed forces said that as of Sunday morning local time, Russia had lost a total of 357 aircraft since the start of all-out war.

Newsweek could not independently verify Ukraine's reports and has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

In mid-April, the head of Washington's European Command and NATO's supreme allied commander in Europe, General Christopher Cavoli, said Russia had lost around a 10th of its aircraft stock in Ukraine.

Earlier this year, Ukraine reported a spike in Russian aircraft losses, saying Kyiv's forces had downed a total of 13 aircraft, including an advanced A-50 spy plane, in as many days.

Shortly after Ukraine's statements, the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. think tank, evaluated that the spate of aviation losses had nudged Russia into rolling back its aerial activity in eastern Ukraine.

Russia's aircraft fleet remains a formidable challenge for Kyiv, which has to contend with the more numerous and superior enemy aircraft as it waits for long-promised deliveries of Western-made fighter jets from its allies.

In a separate statement over the weekend, Kyiv said Moscow had sustained the "highest monthly number" of casualties since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russian forces in Ukraine lost 38,940 fighters last month, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Kyiv also said Russia had lost a "record" 1,160 artillery systems throughout May, adding: "It's the biggest number of artillery losses in two years of the war."

In May, Ukraine "destroyed" 860 Russian armored combat vehicles (APVs), according to Ukraine's military. This is the second-highest number of monthly APV losses registered, exceeded only by losses in the first month of Moscow's invasion, Kyiv said.

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